Tips for Trainers: ending the certificate snare

This tip challenges the notion of receiving signed certificates at the end of workshops trainings or courses. The author identifies three things wrong with certificates: people are less interested in learning and more interested in receiving a piece of paper; certificates deceive and mislead as some people learn and change while others don't and; there is no control as to how they are used and abused. The author goes on to suggest and describe two solutions: the Pledge Certificate, and the Group Photograph and Farewell Certificate.